Agenda item

To outline the activities that will be completed by the sub-groups to deliver measurable progress towards the aims and objectives in the Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

The Board considered a report (Agenda Item 11) concerning the plans for delivering the Health and Wellbeing Strategy. Jo Reeves reported that since the Board’s Peer Review in March 2017, the Steering Group had focused on supporting the Board’s development by refreshing the strategy and the Board’s governance arrangements in line with the recommendations which arose. This culminated in the new HWB strategy being adopted in March 2017. The Steering Group had now turned its attention ensuring the strategy was being delivered and asked the sub-groups to develop delivery plans to outline what actions they would be completing in support of the strategy.

The Board had two priorities for 2017; reducing alcohol related harm and increasing the number of community conversations which help communities to address issues. The Steering Group was confident that their plans had identified the outputs that they would produce during their year as priorities, but the outcomes for the health, wellbeing and resilience of West Berkshire’s residents still need to be specified.

The strategy also outlined five strategic aims with a number of objectives underneath each aim. The level of activity being completed for these aims varied widely and in some cases the Board needed to be concerned. In particular, there was no delivery plan available for the aim to support mental health and wellbeing throughout life.

There was a lot of work being undertaken regarding mental health but progress had been slow. The Board were recommended to investigate what the barriers had been to developing momentum behind the impact the Board could have on mental health. The Board was also invited to consider how it could harness the local and national spike in attention on mental health to delivering better outcomes for West Berkshire’s residents.

(The meeting was adjourned from 11am to 11.01am to hold a minute’s silence in remembrance of the victims of the Manchester attack a few days previously.)

Councillor Fredrickson enquired why there was a disparity between the progress of the Board’s sub-groups. Jo Reeves responded that it had not been the aim of the governance review to create more groups and instead they sought to make use of existing groups. Some groups had existed for some time, for example the Ageing Well Task Group was established following a Hot Focus Session in April 2016. The Mental Health Collaborative had been established as a group of interested professionals who thought that working collectively could improve services for West Berkshire’s residents. The collaborative had found that attendance at its meetings was not always prioritised or at an appropriate level of seniority from the members organisations. There was no alternative group which the Board could have sought to bring in to deliver the mental health objectives in its strategy.

Nick Carter advised that he had spent some time following the previous meeting of the Board and he had been struck by a lack of a collective vision across Berkshire West for how mental health services should be provided. Different organisations had different views lead by their own statutory responsibilities. Nick Carter expressed the view that these organisations needed to prioritise three things to focus on to improve the picture for mental health. It was not uncommon nationally to lack a singe group or strategy to cut across the various organisations. A meeting of the Locality Integration Board in June 2017 would be used to establish a shared vision and drive forward improvement.

Shairoz Claridge commented that there had been good work such as the crisis concordat but agreed there was disparity in some elements. Nick Carter highlighted the need to consider the service user’s perspective.

Andrew Sharp reiterated that mental health cut across every service and there were no joined up solutions at present.

Councillor Marigold Jacques advised that at the previous meeting she was struck by the duplication of work across the District. From her previous role in a mental health charity, she knew that prevention and education in schools was essential to promoting good mental health.

Councillor Fredrickson explained that the key to the Board ensuring progress on mental health would be the meeting of the Locality Integration Board in June 2017 which he would like to attend. He wished to make it clear that that the Mental Health Collaborative was a group of volunteers and the Board should harness their goodwill. An agreed hierarchy of priorities and define timescales would be important to drive local improvement.

Councillor Fredrickson noted other objectives defined in the report as ‘business as usual’ and enquired how Board members would like to see information on these areas. Dr Bal Bahia expressed the view that the Steering Group should receive that information and feed up any concerns to the Board. Nick Carter expressed concern that the Board’s agendas might become overloaded if they tried to have oversight of everything in the strategy. Councillor Fredrickson suggested that the Steering Group consider this issue further.

RESOLVED that the delivery plans be approved.